50 pages • 1 hour read
J. L. Esplin96 Miles
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Thirteen-year-old John and his eleven-year-old brother, Stewart (Stew for short), are collecting water from the toilet of an abandoned house in their neighborhood. They are preparing to trek across 96 miles of Nevada desert to Brighton Ranch, a place that promises sustenance and safety. The power has been out for 21 days. They only have two canteens of water left and a small supply of food. In John’s eyes, walking to Brighton Ranch is his and Stew’s best chance at survival.
Stew is against collecting toilet water and argues that they should take a 16-mile detour to a reservoir instead. John pretends that they will think about it but has already decided against it. Both boys are thirsty and on edge, and Stew is annoyed that John is making decisions for them both. Stew even goes so far as to dump the toilet water John carefully collected back into the toilet, forcing John to gather the water a second time.
John is worried about the 96-mile journey ahead of them, but he’s also concerned about Stew’s attitude; usually Stew is determined and willing to do hard things, but for the last few days, Stew seems to have lost his will and hope for survival.
John and Stew’s father trained his boys for these kinds of situations. He prepared for such a disaster with tons of nonperishable food and six 55-gallon water tanks. However, John and Stew’s father is out of town, and all of these supplies were stolen two days ago.
As John continues to collect the toilet water, he hears a noise in the abandoned house. A young, scrawny boy appears, followed by an older girl wielding a steak knife. John notices that the girl is pretty, and they share a moment of intense eye contact. The girl pretends the house belongs to her, and orders John and Stew to leave. John, however, knows that she doesn’t live in the area; John and Stew know all their neighbors, and the boy and girl appear to have been traveling based on the desert dust that coats their legs.
The girl finally admits that they are trying to find Jim Lockwood’s house; her grandparents sent her and her brother and said that Lockwood would take them in. John finds himself facing a difficult decision: leave the girl and her brother and head to Brighton Ranch with Stew and provisions that will hopefully last them the arduous, three-day journey, or take the boy and girl with them, even though their rations will not be enough for four people to survive. Stew makes matters harder when he says: “Dad would do both” (21)—meaning help the brother and sister and get he and Stew to Brighton Ranch. Stew reveals that Jim Lockwood is their father, and the girl overhears.
Chapter 2 Summary
John flashes back to the morning before the blackout three weeks earlier, when his father left town on a work trip. He had come to John’s room to wake him up and noticed the Nevada state flag that John tacked up over his window. Jim had reprimanded him for using the state flag, with its motto, “Battle Born,” disrespectfully as a curtain (25). John hated disappointing his father. He avoided his dad’s gaze as he stumbled into the kitchen for breakfast, only to find that Stew was already mowing the lawn.
In their father’s absence, John and Stew would be staying at the Yardley’s, one of their neighbors. John’s dad reminds him not to be a burden and to clean his room. Jim promises that he won’t be traveling so much for work by the end of the summer, and John is clearly frustrated by how much his dad has been gone lately. Even so, John is looking forward to a family camping trip they will be taking before school starts along with the Brighton family. Just before he leaves, John’s father softens. As he hugs him goodbye, he suggests John use the flag as a wall hanging.
Stew and John walk to the Yardley’s house at sunset and enjoy a home- cooked meal with them. Mr. and Mrs. Yardley have a toddler named Freddy, and Mrs. Yardley is pregnant with their second baby and close to her due date. While watching a movie that night, the power goes out. The room goes silent as all the electronics—refrigerator, air conditioner, and fan—stop simultaneously. John notes how silent things are without the noise of electronic devices. Walking outside, they see the rest of the neighborhood is without power as well. They take a moment to appreciate the brightness of stars overhead without light pollution.
Chapter 3 Summary
It’s three days after the blackout, the day Stew and John expect their father to return. The brothers attend a community meeting with Mr. Yardley to learn more about when they can expect the power to come back. They haven’t been able to talk to their dad on the phone because of the outage. No one knows how widespread the blackout is, and it’s possible their dad will not be able to fly home.
Stewart and John share some of their stockpiled water with the Yardleys, since the young family is already running low. At the meeting, John fills out a paper, taking inventory of the things they have. He knows that if his father were there, he and Stew would be playing with the rest of the kids rather than worrying about water supply and sitting with the adults. John writes that they have a sixth month supply of food and water and a generator, which they’ve had plugged in for the last three days to keep the fridge and a fan going.
John sweats as he answers the question about medication and first aid and listens as a community member named Mr. Ramsey explains that blackouts have been confirmed in several states: Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, and others. Stewart blames zombies for the outage, but no one knows what truly caused it or how much longer it will last. Many people have already evacuated out of Lund, the remote Nevada town where John and Stew live.
At home, John finally cleans his room and decides to hang the flag on the wall as his father suggested. He keeps telling himself that his dad will be home that night. However, his dad never shows. The next day, the Yardley’s bring over pasta for dinner and Stewart and John supply the pasta sauce. Mr. Yardley pulls John aside and reveals that he and Mrs. Yardley will be leaving for Mrs. Yardley’s sister’s house in Ely; she could have her baby at any time and will need help to deliver. John decides that he and Stew will remain at their home in Lund. They have everything they need there. Little does John know that all of their supplies will be taken from them.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
The novel begins in a moment of desperation, with John gathering drinking water from the toilet. Esplin draws the reader into the action. She provides exposition—or explanation about the novel’s events—through flashbacks and John’s first-person narration. She also uses humor. Despite the intensity of the boys’ situation, Stewart’s dramatics about the toilet water and John’s sarcasm lend comedy.
Esplin also uses the first scene to establish John and Stew’s character traits. In their father’s absence, John is the leader and feels the pressure of acting in a do-or-die situation. He tries hard to mask his fear by making strong, determined decisions. Stewart, in contrast, is depressed. He talks about dying as if it will inevitably happen in the next few days. Having already lost hope, he is unwilling to act. John reveals this attitude is out of character for Stewart, who is usually the more determined brother. As the brothers argue, tension mounts. Stew is angry at John for taking charge and acting like Stew is helpless, while John feels the pressure of needing to figure things out for the both of them.
Esplin creates an eerie mood by setting the opening scene in an abandoned house. The quiet makes the reader feel like John and Stew are alone in the world—at least until Will and Cleverly show up. Esplin highlights the change in ambient noise when the power goes out, and John notices the silence that endures without the noise of electronics. This suggests that people often take electronic conveniences for granted.
Although John and Stew’s father isn’t present with them physically, the principles he’s instilled—self-reliance, hard work, and grit—constantly come to John’s mind. Throughout the novel, they will impact his and Stew’s ability to respond to situations. When John wants to leave Cleverly and Will behind to increase the odds of making it to Brighton Ranch, Stew reminds him that their father would help the siblings and get them all to Brighton Ranch alive.
John knows his brother is right. Even though Mr. Lockwood is absent, he is the reason Cleverly and Will join Stew and John on their journey.
This illustrates one of the novel’s themes: Difficult Situations Reveal Character. In hard situations, not easy ones, people’s true natures are illuminated. Esplin also explores the theme: Kids Can Do Hard Things. As we will see, youth does not preclude bravery. The children of the novel are capable of confronting challenges bravely, while some of the adults will act with cowardice.
The community meeting in Chapter 3 juxtaposes John and Stewart with other kids in the community. John is the head of household; he must answer the questionnaire and plan for what he and Stew need, sitting at the table with the adults while the other kids play. The Lockwood family is more prepared than others, shown by the help John and Stew provide the Yardleys. Mr. Lockwood made sure his family was ready to survive in case of emergency, with enough to help neighbors. The Yardley’s situation shows what many others, who are less prepared, are facing at this time.
When the Yardleys leave, John feels confident that he and Stew will be okay. The reader knows at this point that the Lockwood’s survival supplies were taken, but does not know how or when. This creates tension and suspense.
